Baba Ramdev Effect: Govt tells Team Anna we can draft Lokpal Bill without you

 After evicting Baba Ramdev from Delhi, the government today asserted itself against Anna Hazare and his colleagues, sternly telling them that it would go ahead with the drafting of the Lokpal Bill “even in their absence” if civil society representatives continued with their boycott of the joint committee meetings.

It also underlined to the Hazare camp that its involvement in the drafting exercise was being seen as undermining of the “supremacy of the Constitution” by other political parties. The government, however, invited them for the next meeting of the joint committee on June 15.

The government’s curt message was delivered shortly after the Congress bracketed both Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev together calling them “mukhautas (masks)” of the BJP and asserting that there was “no bigger sanyasi” in contemporary politics than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

This sudden assertion of authority was a clear attempt by the UPA government, and the ruling party, to regain some of the significant ground it had yielded ever since it notified the joint drafting committee in April under pressure from Hazare who had launched an indefinite fast against corruption at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The committee has met thrice.

Yesterday, the Hazare camp expressed its solidarity with Ramdev — who was forced out of Delhi on Saturday night — and announced that it would not attend today’s scheduled meeting in protest. The co-chair of the joint committee, Shanti Bhushan, even demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet over the police action on Ramdev, who had organised a fast on the issue of black money.

The five ministers in the joint committee went ahead with today’s meeting in the absence of civil society representatives. One of them, a combative Kapil Sibal, told reporters that Hazare and his colleagues were not “serious” about drafting the Lokpal Bill and criticised the language he said they used against the government.

“I reject in the strongest possible terms the language used by Anna Hazare and others which I must say was not the language of civil society. They have called the government cheats, liars, conspirators. I can only hope such kind of language will not be used in the future,” he said. “Letter writing, asking us to participate in public debates or raising the issue of Ramdev or televised discussions at the meeting are all extraneous to the proceedings of the joint drafting committee. Its mandate is to draft a Lokpal Bill. The government has always cooperated with the demands raised by the civil society.

Sibal made it clear that the government would go ahead with the drafting of the Lokpal Bill even if the civil society representatives refused to participate in future meetings. He read out the responses sent by some of the political parties on the questionnaire circulated by the government inviting suggestions on the Lokpal Bill.

Sibal said the BJP’s view was that law-making was the prerogative of the Parliament and cannot be done by a select group of civil society. Similarly, BSP had said that procedure adopted for drafting of Lokpal bill “was not consistent with Parliament processes”. The CPM and the CPI have also echoed this.

Addressing a press conference earlier, Congress media department chairman Janardan Dwivedi, in a clear reference to Ramdev, said, “A satyagrahi does not run away stealthily wearing women’s dresses. Satyagrahi is always ready to sacrifice his life. Such a person is being compared to Mahatma Gandhi and Vivekananda. Gandhiji never said he feared for his life from the state.”

He also took a dig at the BJP which had organised a day long fast at Rajghat in protest against police action on Ramdev. “Who are these people – those whose ideology led to the creation of Rajghat before time? Gandhiji wanted to live for 125 years. How serious is their fast that the Leader of the Opposition is dancing with her friends at Gandhi’s Samadhi? What is it that they are celebrating – by putting forward the mukhautas of Anna Hazare and Ramdev?” said Dwivedi.

Hazare’s group had also decided to boycott today’s meeting because they wanted the government to make its stand public on certain contentious provisions in the proposed legislation, like whether the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary needed to be brought under the purview of the Lokpal.

Reacting to the government’s remarks, Hazare’s colleague Arvind Kejriwal, one of the members of the committee, denied the use of “unparliamentary” language. “We have always been very proper and correct in our communication with the government. After what the government has said today, we have decided to call a meeting tomorrow to discuss what our future course of action should be,” he said.

Don’t malign our mission, rein in colleagues: Anna Hazare to Sonia Gandhi

Social activist Anna Hazare on Monday wrote to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the “smear” campaign launched against civil society members of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill and asked her to advise her “colleagues” not to try to derail the process of drafting of law.

 In a two-page letter to Gandhi, he complained against a party General Secretary, apparently Digvijay Singh who has been attacking his campaign, of making many statements which were “factually wrong” and asked her whether she approved them.

 He also refereed to an unnamed minister, who is part of the the ten-member joint committee on the bill, and charged him with making false statements that the civil society representatives have “succumbed” to government’s pressure and “diluted” the law.

 As the war over the alleged fake CD involving eminent lawyer and panel co-chair Shanti Bhushan intensified, he said “the developments of the last few days have been a cause for concern.

“It seems that the corrupt forces in the country have united to derail the process of drafting an effective anti-corruption law through the joint committee. Together we have to defeat their designs,” Hazare said.

 He said one of their strategies is to “smear the reputations” of civil society members in the committee.

 “Whereas I am of the view that the people working for public must be subjected to public scrutiny, however, when blatantly false accusations are made, fabricated CDs are planted, then one feels that the purpose is not an honest public scrutiny but to tarnish reputations.

“They have not even spared me, even though I have lived a simple life following on the path of truth. However, I am happy that despite all their efforts, the vested interests could not dig out anything of substance. This has only raised the reputations of civil society members in the eyes of public,” he said.

 The Gandhian said smear campaign of vested interests seemed to be back firing and people could see through what was happening.

 He warned that the country was in “no mood” to wait any longer to have a strong anti-corruption law and expressed fears about the consequences if the process was “derailed” as people were “very agitated”.

 Hazare wondered what would be the outcome if the government nominees in the committee were subjected to “similar scrutiny or witch hunt”.

Anna’s appeal to the Nation

My dear fellow citizens,

 

I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to each one of you for your overwhelming support for the Jan Lokpal movement,  making the Tantra (the System) appreciate the power of the Lok (the People) as is befitting the world’s largest and greatest Loktantra (democracy).

 

Our victory so far over corruption, falsehood, injustice, and oppression is indisputable and unprecedented. But it is also clearly evident that there is handful of people who are already active trying to create schisms in this great coming together of all sections of our society to fight for a corruption-free future. This handful of people wants to break up our collective power and try to create discord.

 

One way for them to try to break up our collective power is to spread disinformation and rake up issues that will distract attention from the fight against corruption towards individuals and extraneous matters.

 

It is important that we are able to see through their designs. We need to not only frustrate their plans but also keep our collective enthusiasm at a level that must keep rising.

 

Our victory so far bears out that we have chosen the right and noble way forward for our country, but our destination is way ahead. We cannot afford to dissipate our energies on arguing over non-issues and quarreling with disinformation campaigns undertaken by the people who see an effective Lokpal as a grave threat to their interests.

 

I consider myself, Anna Hazare, a non-entity. In the history of a great nation and civilization, many Anna Hazares come and go. However, some of the crucial junctures of the history demand that we live up to our national values and ideals; not living up to those values and ideals is like a living death. That’s what I have learnt from the father of our great nation.

 

My indefinite fast was not aimed at getting the government or an individual to fulfill a wayward and irresponsible demand; it was meant to be a Satyagraha of the people of India to liberate ourselves from a monstrously corrupt system of governance.

 

The youth who are devoting some of the most beautiful phase of their lives on this movement for corruption-free India are our force.  The mothers and sisters who lit candles at public places are our light. The sweating foot soldiers of this movement who throw their hands skywards and shout the inspiring slogans are our energy. The Indians who have seen a ray of hope in this movement for a better future will also be the dreamers who will envision a fairer and nobler India.

 

The handful of people who have allowed themselves to be led astray by corruption and injustice will find the right path. That’s our hope.

I appeal to each Indian to keep our unity in this fight against corruption. Each one of us makes up the India, the entire India. So each one of us matter in this struggle to make our government clean and serve our collective interests.

 

I am hopeful that this movement will help clean up and strengthen all our democratic institutions.

 

I appeal to you not to pay attention to disinformation and distractive campaigns.

 

I pray to the Almighty God to give us strength to keep our unity and integrity.

 

May God bless us all!

 

Yours affectionately,

 

Anna Hazare

13th April 2011